The Gasparilla Inn & Club is a historic

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

at 500 Palm Avenue on

Gasparilla Island Gasparilla Island is a barrier island in southwest Florida, United States, straddling the border of Charlotte and Lee counties. Its largest town is Boca Grande, and it is the location of the Gasparilla Island State Park. The island has been an ...

Boca Grande, Florida Boca Grande is a small residential community on Gasparilla Island in southwest Florida. Gasparilla Island is a part of both Charlotte and Lee counties, while the actual village of Boca Grande, which is home to many seasonal and some year-roun ...

. With The Gasparilla Inn is one of the largest surviving resort hotels in Florida, constructed originally for wealthy northerners in the early 20th century, during the time when the state became a travel and vacation destination. The inn is a two-and-a-half-story hotel building. Its first section was built in 1911; it was expanded in 1912 and in 1915. Its

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

-style portico was added around 1931. Its original beach club was destroyed in a hurricane in 1921; the new beach club was added in 1928, and an 18-hole golf course was added next. The Gasparilla Inn Historic District is a historic district which was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2008. It includes the inn, ten guest cottages built between 1915 and 1933, "two housekeeping maintenance sheds, also constructed in 1933, and two historic sites, a croquet court, and holes five and six of the historic 18-hole golf course both of which were constructed c. 1930 on the grounds at the rear of the Inn." It includes, as non-contributing resources, the Mallet Club Croquet House and croquet courts to the northeast of the Inn and north of holes five and six of the golf course. The Croquet House incorporates a section of what was originally the Fletcher House, moved in the 1980s from Gilchrist Avenue in Boca Grande. The hotel is a member of the

Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of pla ...

References

External links

* National Register of Historic Places in Lee County, Florida Buildings and structures completed in 1912 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Gasparilla Island Hotels in Florida Historic Hotels of America {{LeeCountyFL-NRHP-stub